Superfights: Onde a Ação Acontece

I found this video in a bargain bin for $1. That's about the real value of it. I only bought it because I wanted to see Keith Hackney, a former UFC fighter, try his hand at acting. His role is so small that he isn't given much of a chance to fail. Lucky for him because the others fail miserably. This movie is even worse than Ken Shamrock's 'Champions' if that means anything to you. The fights scenes are flashy but embarrassingly bad. They have some young guy wearing a long white wig and beard pretending to be an old Chinese Martial Arts master and it's hilarious.

Seasonal Films have a reputation of brining newcomers to films and the film makes the star look good. Take SUPERFIGHTS. Karate expert Brandon Gaines makes his film debut and in the beginning alone, he is impressive with his leg hopping a la Tan Tao-Liang. The plot is somewhat what you would hear about the pro wrestling circuit, but it is up to Gaines to solve it his way. Forget the plot and concentrate on the action sequences as they were magnificent. I give SUPERFIGHTS a 8 out of 10.

I studied under Master Cliff Lenderman who played one of the major roles in the movie. As a student of his at the time of the release, I was able to attend the local premier showing.

If you like all out, non-stop, fight action, with some incredibly talented fighters, you need to see this movie. If you like a good, solid story line, with plenty of human interest and a good old fashioned, boy-meets-girl story, you also need to see this movie.

I gave it three thumbs up!

Have you seen the No Retreat, No Surrender movies and their unofficial sequels? This movie follows in the same tracks. If you enjoyed the former, you will like this. The thing about this is that it's even less serious than the other similar movies, something one didn't think was possible. It' film making at it's very worst (unprofessional, amateurish and extremely goofy) combined with martial arts action at it's very best (or at least close to it). The combination is great really, you shift back and forth from laughing out loud about how bad it is, to actually enjoying and admiring the cool fight scenes. A weird movie that I'll recommend if you enjoy martial arts flicks.

Anyone familiar with the 90s output of HK based Seasonal Films (Gary Daniels' BLOODMOON, American SHAOLIN, KING OF THE KICKBOXERS II) will most likely know what to expect here: excellent fights and plenty of laughs. To paraphrase a friend who also took this film in, "How this 80s movie got made in the 90s is beyond me!" Honestly, I have not laughed this hard while watching a film in a long time. The first 15 minutes had me going scene after scene. Nearly everything thing about SUPERFIGHTS is funny. From the male lead "training" while working his day job as a box boy to the hilarious stereotypes regard wrestling to the amazing theme song ("Superfighter! Kick his ass!"), the film is completely wrongheaded in every aspect. Well, except for one. Like every Seasonal film, the fight choreography is exceptional. Director/fight choreographer Tony Leung Siu Hung captures some great moves from martial arts veterans such as Keith Vitali, Cliff Lenderman & Chuck Jeffreys along with newcomer Brandon Gaines. Gaines is extraordinarily agile, but can't act to save his life. One truly hasn't lived until you have seen Gaines run up the steps of a courthouse a la ROCKY while screaming "Woo hoo!" at the top of his lungs. Writer Keith W. Strandberg is also responsible for the equally hilarious NO RETREAT, NO SURRENDER series, so that explains a lot. If you are a fan of high quality fights, then this is definitely recommended. However, if you are a fan of movies so funny that they will make you cry, then SUPERFIGHTS is highly recommended.